People who achieve 10% or more weight loss in the first five years after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes have the greatest chance of seeing a remission of their disease, according to a Cambridge University study.
The results suggest that it is possible to recover from the disease without intensive lifestyle changes or extreme calorie restrictions.
Type 2 diabetes affects 400 million people worldwide and increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, blindness and amputations. While the disease can be treated with a combination of positive lifestyle changes and medication, it is also possible that the high blood sugar that makes diabetes return to normal - through significant calorie restriction and weight loss. An intense low-calorie diet with a total daily intake of 700 calories (less than a cheeseburger) over an 8-week period has been associated with remission in nearly nine out of ten people with recently diagnosed diabetes and half of those with long-term illness.
However, there is little evidence that the same effect can be achieved through less intensive interventions that are more practical and potentially more scalable for the general population. To answer this question, a team led by researchers from the University of Cambridge examined data from the ADDITION-Cambridge study, a prospective cohort study of 867 people with newly diagnosed diabetes aged 40 and 69 years, coming from general practitioners in the east Region were recruited.
The research was funded by Wellcome, the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research.
The researchers found that 257 participants (30%) were in remission after five years of follow-up. People who achieved 10% or more weight loss within the first five years after diagnosis were more than twice as likely to have remission than people of the same weight.
"We have known for some time that it is possible to send diabetes into remission with drastic measures such as intensive weight loss programs and extreme calorie reduction," says Dr. Hajira Dambha-Miller from the Ministry of Public Health and Primary Care.
"These interventions can be very difficult and difficult to achieve for individuals. However, our results suggest that it could be possible to get rid of diabetes for at least five years with less weight loss by 10%. This will be more." motivating and therefore accessible to many people. "
Leading author Professor Simon Griffin of the MRC Epidemiology Unit added: "This reinforces the importance of weight management that can be achieved through dietary changes and increased physical activity. Type 2 diabetes can lead to significant complications in chronic illness, but like ours Study shows, can be controlled and even reversed. "
Journal Reference:
H. Dambha‐Miller, A. J. Day, J. Strelitz, G. Irving, S. J. Griffin. Behaviour change, weight loss and remission of Type 2 diabetes: a community‐based prospective cohort study. Diabetic Medicine, 2019; DOI: 10.1111/dme.14122